Couple of years ago I read a fascinating book about litterally the "small pleasures in life". Small pleasures like those gestures, actions that we, consciously or not, encounter on a daily basis often without even realizing how important / fullfilling they actually are. "Whether it be a croissant in the street, the Tour de France, a potluck, shelling peas, a glass of port, the smell of apples, the mobile library, a garden in August, getting your espadrilles wet, or an autumn sweater".

Lately I have been often talking about the fact that, after years of profound struggling with food allergies / intollerances I tried my very last option to fix/solve these problems. I seriously couldn't handle anymore the fact of getting convulsion, badly sick, sometimes even fainting in restaurants even after telling the waiter(s) I couldnt eat certain stuff (but still finding them hidden somewhere on my plate!). After almost 8 years of trying every type of possible "medical solution", and after being told there was nothing I could do since it was, unfortunately a permanent state I should live with for the rest of my days, a friend of mine told me about an alternative cure (that apparently fixed all of his allergies/intollerances in a couple of months): Magnetic bioresonance. Well, I said, what the heck...one more try wouldn't hurt plus it was completely natural. It turns out another friend of mine had a studio of naturopathy right next to my office and...so I went, without having any expectations.
4 months have passed and my allergies/intollerances are gone, they disappeared!!!!

Why have I started this post with a book on small pleasures of life? Well, right now I'm in the phase of re-introducing all the food I haven't eaten in 8 years. All that food that contains lactose: yogurt, ham, sausages, butter (ohhhh yummy risotto!). Let me tell you...eating just bits of this stuff was like eating the best things ever for the first time ever! A milk shake at the bar on the boardwalk, a sausage at the barbecue with my friends, the famous risotto made by my mom (finally the real way...with butter not with olive oil!!). Well, exactly like those things Philippe Delerm was talking in his book "We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures" (in italiano, en français) Photos by lilypenelope

I started thinking about traditions under different aspects after reading a very interesting post named "Gone with the Wind". What are traditions and how do we/I perceive and live them? Beliefs, customs and practices, wanting it or not, affect our everyday. Festivals, food, sports, clothes, songs,and yes, even languages (as dialects) are part of us and of our (national) history. Our and the one we want to show to the world as a form of attraction, historical or merely touristic.
So, I started going with my mind in a journey through Swiss traditions. Let's set this thing straight right away: NO, we do not go around with bows and arrows and shoot apples on people's heads!
Switzerland is very fragmented. 26 states, 4 national languages, a miriad of different dialects, and many strange characters! Many traditions, some still alive, mostly culinary, others are kept alive by few, some are just alive and very weird, and believe me on this!!
One of the best is the winter food tradition. I guess every single swiss, during this period of the year enjoys eating either fondue or raclette. I adore them, especially the last one. It is almost a mandatory moment during the year. Winter isn't winter if you dont eat these cheese traditional dishes. I was so into this until I discovered I was allergic to diary. The swiss icon for excellence, the cow, became my enemy. The one that made me stop with a very important tradition. I seriously couldn't deal with this tragedy! So I discovered something new... my new friend...the goat (yes...0 lactose!!!)!

Now I understand whay Heidi hanged around with so many of them! Their cheeses are amazing!

That's when the new thought arrived: why not subjectivize traditions?? So, I started to participate to this dinners with my own cheese! Like those parties where you have to BYOD (Bring your own drinks) I had to BMOC (Bring my own cheese).

But this way this tradition is very alive in my life! So, if you can't fully adhere to a national tradition subjectivize it:
You can't participate to the traditional Unspunnenfest? Take your computer screen and throw it in your office! The screen is lighter and you can throw it further!
You can't play Hornussen? Take a fishing rod and attach a plate on the fish hook, and then place a tomato on your table...start turning like a psycho with your rod and it it...!!!
Traditions are a very good thing. Keep them alive!

I spent the last days feeling pathetic. There really are things I do not tolerate anymore. I need a big change! I need to finally realize that things aren't the way I always thought (or wished) they were. So, there is simply one thing to do. I need to approach my life, from now on, exactly as I did 5 years ago when I was told I was lactose intolerant. Later the intolerance transformed itself into allergy and that really fucked me up a little. Imagine being swiss, adoring cheese..oh god...a good raclette? A fondue? And suddently you feel like diing everytime you eat something that contains that damn lactose!!! So, after doing all the tests I was told it was irreversible and therefore I cannot eat any of those amazing food we have here ever again!! I had to eliminate every single thing that contained it, cheese, yougurt, butter, and every other type of food that uses lactose as a preservant. And ultimately the list of food I couldn't eat became endless. But then I told myself it wasn't a big deal. I discovered other good stuff to eat or drink that were as good, if not better, than before. I discover goat cheese (which doesn't contain enough lactose to kill me!) oh my god how good is that!!! Life is like a food intolerance. You wake up one morning and you realize some people make you sick. You become aware that certain actions (your or others) make you ill. Well, right now I am writing a list of things I am intolerant in my life. And I just do not want to have anything to do with them anymore. If really my theory of life being like a food intolerance I will certainly discover better stuff than what I have right now!